What Glue to Re-Leather My Retina?

[rover]

The square patch of leather on the nose of my Retina is peeling off. I just have to put a little glue on it and stick it back in place. Before I break out the super glue or a super duper epoxy.....perhaps you can advise me of a better choice of compound.

Thank you.

 

[Murray Kelly]

I remember reading somewhere that they use shellac in alcohol to stick the leatherette on to the body.

Murray

 

[rover]

Pliobond, a rubbery contact cement, is used by many repairers for this purpose.
It provides excellent grip on many materials, yet remains slightly pliable when dry.
If necessary parts joined with Pliobond can usually be removed with minimal damage.
Available from Fargo/Micro Tools and some crafts and hardware stores.

Chris

This is exactly what I am looking for. I am confident that I can get that little patch stuck to the camera forever, but I want to do this very easy job correctly.

Thank you.

 

[FallisPhoto]

This is exactly what I am looking for. I am confident that I can get that little patch stuck to the camera forever, but I want to do this very easy job correctly.

Thank you.

Any contact cement will do it. Pliobond, Elmers Professional, even the local drugstore's generic "Household Contact Cement" will do. Some people like using double sided tape too. The original substance used was orange shellac though. You can use this, but you might need to hold it down tight for a couple of hours while it dries if it tends to curl up. With contact cement, once two parts touch, they are stuck tight. It's what they use to stick formica onto counter tops.

Oh yeah, you mentioned super glue earlier. Don't even joke about that. Never bring superglue anywhere near a camera. Ever seen those CSI episodes on TV where they use superglue fumes to bring out fingerprints? Well, it really does that. I know a guy who almost ruined an Olympus XA by gluing something inside it with superglue and closing the camera. Next day, everything inside it that had ever been touched had turned white, including all the optics. Sheer hell getting it off too, according to him.

 

[sanmich]

I use contact cement, but I don't do the whole double side applying, wait 20 min then assembly because I want it NOT to be too strong, especially on cameras where removing the cover is mandatory to reach the assembly screws.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I use contact cement, but I don't do the whole double side applying, wait 20 min then assembly because I want it NOT to be too strong, especially on cameras where removing the cover is mandatory to reach the assembly screws.

For real leather, apply contact cement pretty thickly to the leather, wipe it off with a rag, and stick it down immediately. You'll have just a few seconds to slide it around and get it into position before the glue gets tacky. For cellulose leatherette, I prefer double sided tape. Only for vinyl would I apply contact cement to both surfaces and wait 20 minutes. Vinyl tends to curl up over the years and so you'd want something that will hold it down hard. It can still be peeled off, although you'll need a new piece of vinyl. That's okay; vinyl's cheap.

 

[Lukino]

I use Vinavil (white glue) to stick leatherette, it seems to work ok and should be easy to remove if needed (but never tried), am I wrong?

 

[literiter]

I have had great success with shellac (soluble with alcohol) and white picture framer's glue (water soluble) because I may want to remove the leather later. This is particularly important with the Super Ikonta B (532/16) where the leather covers a screw allowing the removal of the top cover. I have had to literally destroy that piece of leather because of a previous repair using a very permanent type of glue.

The leatherette covering the light meter adjustment on the Nikon F2's DP finders is a good case in point. This stuff is often quite difficult to remove. I'll scrape the old adhesive off as well as I can and reapply using a very fine double backed tape, which is quite removable.

I hate lumps under reapplied leather, so I like water soluble white glue, double backed tape and best of all I like shellac.

For a real permanent application like replacing a skin on the body of a camera, where I won't need to remove it again I'll use contact cement which I've thinned about 25% and applied carefully so as to get no bumps under the leather.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I hate lumps under reapplied leather, so I like water soluble white glue, double backed tape and best of all I like shellac.

I do too, so I clean exposed rivets with steel wool and paint the spot. Then the bumps won't come back.

BTW, all you guys using white glue, how do you get around that white glue is for porous materials and doesn't stick to metal well at all?

 

[Lukino]

BTW, all you guys using white glue, how do you get around that white glue is for porous materials and doesn't stick to metal well at all?

I don't konw in the long run, but after one year it still keep working...
Bond on metal will not be very strong, but since stress is little and surface is large, I think there will be no problem.

 

[chippy]

I cant imagine using ordinary white glue (PVA glue) at all, on metal cameras, its a very common wood glue and excellent for that, also for paper and cloth, i think it is used in bookbinding as well. it would soak in and adhere to the leather but not the metal..not sure i would want it soaking in to the leather on the camera anyway.

personaly i would never use contact cement either, its just not needed and overkill, messy to clean up (and dont kid yourself, most people will get some on parts of the camera they didnt intend on, so you may always see little bits of it) and good luck removing the leather if you need to once its set.

shellac is ideal, easy to use, authentic for old cameras, its what they used in the early days and can be removed easily and cleans up ok.

i also like the rubber cement and often use it (same stuff as used for repairing punctures in tire tubes and adhering rubber soles on shoes, although some people may use contact glue for shoes as well) , for small patch jobs, such as if the corners are curling up, providing i am not being criticle about keeping the camera genuine, though it would be fine for whole camera leather replacment as well...

its easy and a good choice when you want something straight out of a tube, the leather can be moved around a bit to get it in the right place, if you muck it up altogether it can be fixed, obviously it can be removed. clean up if gotten on other parts is easy and dries pretty much clear.

 

[literiter]

BTW, all you guys using white glue, how do you get around that white glue is for porous materials and doesn't stick to metal well at all?

Picture framer's glue, not ordinary white glue, even though I've tried it and it works. Picture framer's glue has a very high tack, will stick to metal (quite well!) and will wash out of leather and can be removed later on. I would use this stuff on wood cameras and parts of some cameras that will be taken apart later. (see your friendly picture framer)

Let it be known I'd likely not use the stuff to reapply the vinyl on my Pentax Spotmatic, but I'd use it to glue down small flat pieces of leather on the upper parts of something like a Super Ikonta.

Just another bit of goop in my arsenal of goops.

 

[literiter]

I'd like to know what that stuff Aki Asahi and CameraLeather use on their leather kits. If I had that stuff I'd be a lot happier. It sticks very well yet it can be removed.

 

[Lukino]

about shellack, how do you use it? I've only found tutorial about using it as wood finish, can someone explain how to use it as a glue? I mean how much alcool to use, how much to apply and how much to wait, I've used to white glue mainly because I was unable to find this informations, and also no ready-to use shellack-based glue...

 

[rover]

Pliobond is available at ACE Hardware stores here in the US. Not leather on the Retina, fancy paper stuff. Stuck and done in 5 minutes. Including reading the instructions and clean up.

 

[chippy]

about shellack, how do you use it? I've only found tutorial about using it as wood finish, can someone explain how to use it as a glue? I mean how much alcool to use, how much to apply and how much to wait, I've used to white glue mainly because I was unable to find this informations, and also no ready-to use shellack-based glue...

its dead easy to use, test on a few scraps first and you cant go wrong. i think it can be bought as a liquid (like varnish, so i have heard anyway) but i get it as dried flakes, just add enough methylated spirits to it to make a paint/paste, but thin enough to paint on. apply with a brush or even a small piece of cloth is ok. test a little bit first on something else so you can see how quickly it evaporates and becomes tacky and then dries, too quick just add a bit more metho next time, also test so you get an idea how thin you can paint on so you dont have too much excess. it doesnt take long to dry so you need to work smoothly and dry test fit first. clean up any edges and spills with Q tips and metho.

there are probably better explanations but just think of it as a paint that sticks stuff,

 

[RF-Addict]

I have restored quite a number of Linhof 4x5 Technika cameras where the leather always had to be replaced. The best "glue" I could find was Pliobond it is easy to apply, gives just enough time to apply the leather to the metal body and really makes for a very good long term solution. I tried other solutions as well, but kept coming back to Pliobond.

 

[retro]

Pliobond stinks. 🙂

 

[kuzano]

Lo and Behold....

Lo and Behold....

I walked into Ace Hardware and what to my eyes did appear????

On the second row of shelves, can after can of Pliobond.

It only stinks til it's dry😛

 

[FallisPhoto]

i also like the rubber cement and often use it (same stuff as used for repairing punctures in tire tubes and adhering rubber soles on shoes, although some people may use contact glue for shoes as well) , for small patch jobs, such as if the corners are curling up, providing i am not being criticle about keeping the camera genuine, though it would be fine for whole camera leather replacment as well...

I like both shellac and contact cement. If contact cement is only applied to one surface, and is put on before it sets up, it doesn't stick that hard. It is stronger than rubber cement, but can be peeled off if needed. I know, because I have done it.

I have a problem with rubber cement though -- it is very acidic. This can lead to conditions like "red rot" in vegetable-tanned leathers (morrocco, for example), ten years or so down the road. Even a small elevation in acidity, combined with warmth and humidity, can cause the sulphur dioxide used in the tanning process to convert to sulphuric acid. Now you have a stronger acid and a chain reaction starts. Basically, what happens is that once this starts, the leather turns reddish and then slowly crumbles to powder. Once it gets started, it won't stop, there is no "cure" (short of stripping, cleaning and releathering) and it can spread to any vegetable tanned leather it comes into contact with. As the process continues, it accellerates, acidity skyrockets and it will also start oxidizing the metal. Most modern leathers are either vegetable tanned or chrome tanned. Consolidants can slow red rot down but won't stop it. Only thing to do, at this point, is rip it all off, clean the camera very thoroughly, and releather.